Jumping spider baby mystery, + what do babies eat?

WildSpider

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 14, 2018
Messages
465
I thought the babies would cannibalize each other if no other food was available? Eventually you end up with the bigger ones who survived. Probably better to get food if you want to release or maximize how many you end up with but they should work it out right?
This is true. Cannibalism happens in keepers' care just as it happens in the wild. From my experience, yes, at the end you would just have the happy fat ones.
Aargh . . . I hope not! So far they have all seemed to be very friendly to each other (the mother could have eaten the babies if she had wished, but she didn't). So maybe the kids will be a chip off the old block!

No matter what, I have to wait till Monday and then pray for a miracle. Let's hope the flies are small enough and the spiderlings are hungry enough!
I read that keeping them together for a week or two after they've hatched or while they don't look like they're having problems with each other should be fine. If they start acting differently or the time is up, it might be a good idea to separate them as cannibalism can occur, even with more food available. Supposedly, cannibalism happens a lot with these guys.

I usually separate my true spider slings when they first start to wander around like they're ready to leave the next but it seems jumping spiders kind of do this right off the bat so they're a bit trickier.
 

kamakiri

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 12, 2018
Messages
42
SPIDERS/BABIES UPDATE

Sorry for the silence, but it's been a little anxious around here while I waited for the shipment of "even smaller flies" that my incredibly helpful contact in Ottawa promised.

Since I wasn't receiving it until today, I figured I could only worry myself by looking in the spiderlings' container; if they did, there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it and if they cannibalised each other there wasn't a whole lot I could do about that, either.

So indeed today the new flies arrived in the mail, but it looked like they had been through a lot. Whatever the medium is that keeps them alive—it looks like applesauce but it probably isn't—had been slung around the container and was adhering to every part of it, including the top, and a quick glance told me that there were not a whole lot of flies that survived.

However, the ones that did looked to be just the right size—about as big as this equals sign: =

But when you consider that the spiderlings are about the size of this asterisk: * you can see that * = are still a bit of a mismatch.

Through my "spigot" method (see above) I managed to siphon off about five flies, which I introduced to the spiderlings' container.

Alas, the spiderlings still seem intimidated by the size of the flies, plus the flies are energetic—they must appear to the tiny spiders like race cars thundering past.

So the spiderlings seem intimidated. When one of the flies began to zoom up the side of the container and I saw that a spider was precisely in its path, I thought "Now the fun begins!" but the fly just buzzed straight into the spider and they both fell off the side of the container and the fly rushed away.

So . . . I don't know what else to do except put as many flies as possible into the cage and hope the spiderlings can somehow screw up the nerve to catch one—what do they do? Jump on a fly and inject venom, then sit back and wait for the venom to take effect?

I imagine that's how it goes but if so I guess I will have to wait a while and see how things develop.

In the other container, wherein lies the mother spider and at least one baby, nothing is stirring; but in that container there is a thin layer of potting soil for the spiders to hide in, so that is what I imagine they are doing.

As you recall, last week I introduced some regular sized fruit flies and the mother at least grabbed one—I don't now about the little one. I will have to check the cage in more detail later on.

But one big surprise is the hardiness of the tiny ones—if I'm right they have not eaten a thing since they hatched, probably around three weeks now. I wish I could put in some cookies or something but I know they don't eat sugar, though right about now that would be the best thing for them . . . yes, maybe a Black Forest cake with lots of creamy frosting and—

Oh, sorry.

I wish I could provide photos but there isn't much to look at at the moment!

I will keep you posted.

Spider count at present: one mature jumper, 4-5 hatchlings.
 

WildSpider

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 14, 2018
Messages
465
what do they do? Jump on a fly and inject venom, then sit back and wait for the venom to take effect?
From what I've seen, they seem to mostly rely on brute force to take down prey. I'm sure the venom does assist in helping subdue their prey though. So this means, they dive for the prey, wrestle it if necessary, and come out victorious.
And the mother spider is alive and very well! Perhaps someone can ID her? Apologies for the poor video.
Wow, very cool jumper. I'm not sure what species she is. You could post another thread to ask for that and someone might be able to ID her :).
 
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Aline

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
52
Hi!
I'm trying to raise some tiny baby jumping spiders and I found your thread. How did it end up, did they eventually eat the fruit flies? I'd love to hear what happened! Thanks !
 

kamakiri

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 12, 2018
Messages
42
Hi Aline,

Wow! My poor spider is ancient history, but I'll try to recall what happened . . . I related how I found my spider just somehow jumping around my apartment on the 8th floor—I have no idea how he got there, but I suspect he hitched a ride on some vegetable or plant—and I put him into a container with some potting soil and a couple of twigs in it, never having had a spider for a pet but somehow guessing things right.

At first I had no idea how to take care of him, so I did some research and discovered that I should probably try to give him fruit flies.

I had no idea where to get a fruit fly but again I got lucky when I discovered some buzzing around some fruit (!) in my kitchen. I caught one and put it in his container and he caught it! (I have the video somewhere).

But what freaked me out was that one morning I went to look in his container and I saw the most unbelievable thing—a bunch of very, VERY tiny spiders all crawling merrily around the container.

So HE was a SHE! The weird thing was that she didn't seem to have an egg sac or any other sign that she was "pregnant" but after the babies appeared, I knew I had to do something drastic, or they would all die.

I managed to find someone selling fruit flies (wingless) not far from me (in Ottawa—I'm in Montreal) so I ordered some.

Well, I knew from these boards that the probability was high that the babies would either be eaten by the mother or eat each other, so I briefly separated the babies in their own container.

Then I introduced the fruit flies to both containers. The mother would eat them but they were far too big for the little ones, who were about as big as the head of a pin. So I ordered smaller fruit flies, but by for whatever reason the little spiders either were too small for the little flies or . . .?

I don't know, but one by one the babies died. None of the fruit flies was eaten by them.

The mom survived another two or three months, but one day she refused to eat the fruit flies I introduced to her cage and shortly thereafter she passed away . . . =+(

So that's the story . . . my wife has strongly discouraged me of keeping any other spiders as pets, although I get quite a few large house spiders . . . but they aren't the same as my little jumping spider! Definitely the nicest spider I have ever known.

Please let us know your story! I for one would love to hear it.

All the best

Nick
 

Cororon

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 8, 2018
Messages
268
If I had a local hoppy (jumping spider) that had babies, when they started to run around in the container I would have taken the it out in the wild so they could spread. It would have been too much work to keep tens of them. :)

The youngest spiderlings don't eat. They still have nutrients from the egg yolk left in their butts. I haven't taken care of any spiders that young, so I'm not sure when they start to eat. But left together for too long they may start to eat eachother. :anxious:
 

Aline

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
52
Thank's for sharing your story, Nick. Did you set the other babies free? I have a few egg sacs. The babies have hatched but not come out yet. I'll probably wait for a while before I feed them, worst-case scenario some of the bigger ones will eat the smaller ones... but then they will be big enough to eat the fruit flies.
Do you know what species of jumping spider you have? I believe here in Montreal we have a zebra jumping spider which is pretty common in houses.
Cheers!
 

kamakiri

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 12, 2018
Messages
42
I believe here in Montreal we have a zebra jumping spider which is pretty common in houses.
Cheers!
Heh . . . well, I don't know if you can tell, but I'm in Montreal, too! Perhaps we should get together and discuss our various spider adventures. Just two days ago I was having a few games of chess at the Duc de Lorraine, just near my house, when my chess partner noticed something hanging from his queen which he had just lost to one of my plays.

At first it looked like a large peppercorn was somehow floating three inches below his hand when I suddenly saw that it wasn't a peppercorn—it was a spider, hanging from its silk thread. I almost leapt out of my chair in my haste to catch the little guy, snaring him in my palm, but true to form, he sproinged off my hand like a miniature Mexican jumping bean and into the void.

I had no idea that jumping spiders were so numerous around these [parts, but he was of the zebra-striped variety, just like my little guy was last year. My guess is that they were both the Audax variety . . . the one I had last year was very small, never any bigger than a large peppercorn, and her babies were barely visible with the naked eye. Like I said, they all either died or were eaten, or ate each other—it was hard to tell.

I don't know what to advise—you can probably find the answer elsewhere on this site—but I would separate the babies from the mother as soon as possible, so that they won't get eaten.

If you need to order some wingless fruit flies, I know a dealer just across the border in Ontario who is super reliable and sends them out promptly, plus there is an outfit called Spiders Canada, or something like that, pretty close to Montreal. If you need more info just let me know.

Best regards to your little pets and the very best of luck to you!

Nick
 
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